Oral and rectal thermometers having a temperature range of from about 92 to 106.degree. F. have been in use for many years for sensing the temperature, inter alia, of the human body. The use of oral thermometers with infants is particularly troublesome due to the difficulty of keeping such thermometer in the baby's mouth under conditions and for a time sufficient to permit the inserted portion of the thermometer to reach ambient conditions therein and thereby produce a reasonably accurate reading of the actual temperature of the subject being temperature sensed. As infants age with concomitant cutting of teeth, the use of an oral thermometer becomes hazardous due to the possibility of breakage as well as greater awareness by the subject to a foreign object.
Many assemblies including a thermometer have been proposed for sensing the temperature of the oral cavity of a human, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 358,141; 2,008,754; 2,445,539; 2,797,682; 2,844,031; 3,780,586; 3,913,402 and 4,072,054. Of such assemblies, U.S. Pat. No. 2,445,539 to Singer discloses an assembly including a clinical thermometer in a body member and positioned below the tongue in the oral cavity of a human. The body member, howver, does not ensure physiological acceptance below the tongue nor facile continued placement below the tongue since the same is maintained in position by lip pressure. Additionally, the assembly of the Singer reference does not permit effective salivary flow nor comfort in swallowing saliva.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,797,682 to Kannenberg discloses an assembly for more positive positioning of the clinical thermometer below the tongue of the user provided proper initial placement. The assembly does not ensure continued placement, however, since the body is held in place by the front teeth of the user, particularly considering the normal desired to move the lower jawbone with respect to the upper jawbone during usage. Additionally, such assembly suffers from the hereinabove noted defects, i.e. ineffective salivary flow and discomfort in swallowing.